Singer
His wife, Catherina, was the 1962 Miss World from Holland.
His name, "Chubby Checker", is a play on the name of another famous singer of his era, Fats Domino. The name was suggested by the wife of "Bandstand" (1952) host Dick Clark.
Rumor always had it that he was a chicken-plucker in Philadelphia before he made it big with "The Twist".
His daughter, Mistie Williams, plays basketball at Duke University.
According to his guardian, in 1962 he earned approximately $200,000.
Had first charted hit with "The Class". which is noted for his impersonations of Fabin Forte and Fats Domino.
Attended Southern High School in Philadelphia, PA, where one of his classmates was Larry Chance, later to become lead singer of the rock group Larry Chance & The Earls.
On June 7th 1963. he headlined the only R n R concert given at NYCs Polo Grounds (1890-1963). The concert was followed, that evening, by a game between The New York Mets and The St. Louis Cardinals (The Mets won 3-2).
In 1962, the New York City Catholic Archdiocese forbade students in its schools to dance to Checkers "The Twist", saying that it was "un-Christian".
He is one of the six surviving people mentioned by name in the 1989 Billy Joel song "We Didnt Start the Fire". The other five are Doris Day , Queen Elizabeth II , Brigitte Bardot , Bob Dylan and Bernard Goetz.
